Rapper's Delight: The Greatest Story Never Told

posted in: Features • Reviews & Playlists • Urban

Many people know Saigon primarily for his role on Entourage, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy. With seven mixtapes and four street albums, it’s surprising that he has yet to release a full studio album: until now. The Greatest Story Never Told, released in mid-February, was initially scheduled to drop in 2007 but suffered several years of delay. Despite being Saigon’s first studio album, it’s loaded with high profile hip hop characters on both the rapping end and the production end. Primarily produced by Just Blaze, the album also boasts production from some big namers including Kanye West and Buckwild. Not to mention some emcee features by the likes of Q-Tip, Jay-Z, Black Thought and Devin the Dude. Saigon proclaimed that The Greatest Story Never Told is the best album of the last two decades. That may be an exaggeration, but let’s take a closer look.

Upon an initial listen, a couple of things stand out immediately. First off, the production level is very solid. It is not only polished and clean, but also maintains a level of connectivity throughout the album. Secondly, Saigon stays away from the overused auto-tune cop out and keeps the vocals authentic sounding. This, in turn, helps make the album as a whole feel authentic. Overall, The Greatest Story Never Told is about telling the truth; the truth about surviving in the ghetto. “Enemies,” for example, talks about growing up with betrayal. A bitter Saigon repeatedly asks the question “With friends like you, who needs enemies?” The album is broken up, however, with some lighthearted and commercially-friendly reprieves such as “What The Lovers Do” with Devin the Dude. Also “Come On Baby” (featuring Jay-Z) is upbeat, loud and ostentatious, which helps take the edge off of the stinging prior song, “The Invitation.” After eighteen tracks, the album does come full circle in the long run with “Too Long” as its final track. This haunting song makes you think about life in a serious way: “I gotta find my way out now, Lord tell me what’s going on.”

Saigon clearly wrote this album with a theme in mind. It seems like that should be a given for all artists, but that just isn’t the case. Many artists consider any combination of ten or so tracks to be an “album” with no sense of a bigger picture. To say that The Greatest Story Never Told is the best album in the past twenty years would be untrue. But it certainly deserves a good listen and a lot of respect. Despite the rocky start to Saigon’s hip hop career, this release just may be the beginning of an exciting future for him.